MOSCOW, October 18 (RIA Novosti) - Turkey's failure to join United Nations Security Council for the next two years marks the lack of international community's trust in Turkey regarding its policy in Syria and Iraq, Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said Saturday.
"The defeat in the UN General Assembly on Thursday [at the election of new non-permanent members of Security Council] shows that the world does not trust Turkey in what concerns its policy in Syria and Iraq," the Lebanese newspaper Al-binaa quoted Mekdad as saying.
Deputy foreign minister condemned Turkey for supporting terrorist organizations and stated that Turkish policy in the region, which supports Islamic State and al-Qaeda affiliated groups, is an integral part of terrorist acts in Syria and Iraq.
On Thursday, Turkey fell behind Spain in the competition for the remaining seat in the Western European and Other States Group of the Security Council. Apart from Spain, Angola, Venezuela, Malaysia and New Zealand were elected as new non-permanent members of the Security Council for 2015 and 2016.
Turkey is believed to provide certain support to jihadi radicals. Thus, Bilal Erdogan, son of Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, allegedly has ties with and provides financial assistance for the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (IHH), an Islamic charity organization assisting extremist groups.
Moreover, since 2012, when Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant started fighting the Syrian government, Turkey has reportedly been providing weapons and other support to jihadists, also aiming at allowing them to prevent the appearance of an autonomous Kurdistan in Syria.
Islamic State, also known as the Islamic State (IS) of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), has been fighting the Syrian government since 2012. In June 2014, the group expanded its attacks to northern and western Iraq and declared an Islamic caliphate on the territories that had fallen under its control. A US-led coalition is currently carrying out airstrikes against IS positions in Syria and Iraq. A strategy by US President Barack Obama implies the aid to Kurdish fighters and "moderate" Syrian opposition.
